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Sunday, April 02, 2006
When Birds Attack!
When Walt Disney World's version of Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room got a head to tail makeover in 1998 as 'Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management' little did those involved with the rewrite realize they were actually creating a potent metaphor for the management style of the entire Walt Disney Company.
It was from within this corporate culture of greed, cynicism and condescension that management stopped making any effort to understand the true Disney audience and instead kowtowed to those who actually despised those corny animatronic birds, indeed the entire Disney brand, as much as they did.
Enter Lion King's Zazu and Aladdin's Iago into the Tiki Room to actively trumpet the new corporate cynicism. Where the original was all charm and harmony, this once warm tropical oasis now became the setting of an ugly animatronic cock fight.
Iago doesn't waste a moment to tow the new corporate line.
"If you're gonna keep your jobs ya gotta get hip!" he shrieks down from his perch. "You are boring, Tiki Birds. That's why I'm gonna change your show!"
"Can you birds sing in punk or rap?" he continues. "Can ya rock and roll? It's a whole new world so you better get hip or your audience will disappear!"
One can easily imagine a similar speech at any Disney executive retreat.
Dutifully the birds in attendance get in lock step behind their new mandate. The now 'down and funky' Zazu introduces the, 'pop idols of Polynesia', the lady birds of the bird-mobile do the conga and the tiki chorus rap like good urban birds are supposed to rap.
It's difficult to express the feelings of violation audiences who witness this bastardization of one of their favorite Disney classics feel as they exit. It's not just that they've seen the heart and soul of this extraordinary show stomped on before their eyes, it's that their very respect for the original has been dismissed; that they're somehow second class citizens of the Magic Kingdom because their opinions are out of step with the Hip New Disney. Guests don't come to the Disney parks to be lectured on how un-cool they are.
Surely even the most revered attractions at the Disney Parks are going to see dwindling numbers over time and difficult decisions will have to be made. But it's at times like this that Imagineers need to take a deep breath, remove themselves from the corporate cacophony and then take careful stock of what it was about the original that enraptured audiences once upon a time before placating solely to the lowest common denominator. In staying true to the tone and spirit of the original vision Imagineers will not only embrace the faithful audiences that came before but garner new loyal converts to the Disney brand honestly and with all due respect.
For those wondering what venerable E-ticket attraction at Disney World might be next in line for a pop culture injection of cynicism and self mockery you may not need to look any further than Iago's send off line in 'Under New Management':
"Boy, I'm tired! I think I'll head over to The Hall of Presidents and take a nap."
71 comments:
- Epcot82 said...
Sadly, post-modern "irony" and sarcasm seem to have replaced wit and humor in much of the entertainment world.
In their zeal to "improve" entertainment that's considered "old," Hollywood suits forget the most important adage of all: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Excellent post!
- April 2, 2006 at 5:44:00 PM PDT
- Klark Kent 007 said...
I recently went to see the "new" Tiki Room, and was outraged and annoyed that this had happened. This was the first time I had returned to this attraction since I was a child (typically I would go to the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, or the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse instead), and it was the most pathetic experience I have had at WDW.
It is true that the "new" Tiki Room is the culmanation of what has been wrong with the most recent corporate structure, but hopefully the new, new management will realise the errors of their predecessors.
Diane Disney-Miller was was pleased about the Tiki Room at Disneyland during the 50th anniversary, too bad the one here in Orlando didn't get the same respect.
- April 2, 2006 at 6:02:00 PM PDT
- Merlin Jones said...
I almost cried when when I saw this cynically revised show at WDW - - not only because the enchantment of the Tiki Room had been so very violated, but because I had lived the real, hideous "New Management" changeover at the Studio! And here it was documented in animatronic splendor at the park... Poor Jose and Fritz! Poor Walt!
Who decided that screaming is funny?
Fortunately, I cried tears of joy when Disneyland's original Tiki Room was so lovingly restored last year - - and look at the heavy turnout and happy guests ever since!
- April 2, 2006 at 6:06:00 PM PDT
- PARISINJUNE said...
- April 2, 2006 at 6:16:00 PM PDT
- Mr Banks said...
Parisinjune: If you're going to post to this blog the moderators would appreciate it if you refrained from using all caps. If you continue to post comments in all caps then they won't show up on this blog. Thanks!
- April 2, 2006 at 6:29:00 PM PDT
I think one of the problems with the updated version at WDW is that a lot of people in the general public these days probably prefer it. There's a disturbing trend in society today to think of things only in the here and now. A few years ago I had to drag members of my family to go with me in the Tiki Room, and only after it was over did they realize how fresh it is. There seems to be an automatic rejection of anything "passe". Sometimes you need to just sit down and enjoy something, rather than analyzing how cool it is in relation to the present.
Disneyland isn't about Top 40 radio, or the latest trend on the streets. It's about taking you away from all that.
- April 2, 2006 at 6:39:00 PM PDT
- Klark Kent 007 said...
People still line up for 65+ minute waits for Petre Pan's flight, and it was there from the beginning. Classic is classic, hip is passe.
- April 2, 2006 at 8:28:00 PM PDT
- Epcot82 said...
To Michael's point about the public "liking" the new Tiki Room:
The public likes a lot of things that aren't good -- look at the box-office charts every weekend. If you give the public what they want, you'll make something momentary and meaningless. If you give them something creative that a visionary innovator has made, they may be confused by it, it may not match modern "standards" ... but it will stand the test of time.
Problem is, marketers are not visionaries. Just because they're so prevalent, doesn't make them creative!
- April 2, 2006 at 9:28:00 PM PDT
I as a child never liked the Tiki Room back in 1980 when I saw at the age of 6. It became my mothers favorite show, and my sister and I always joked about that with her. I visited WDW numerous times after that and I seldom entered to see the Tiki Room while growing up. When I went to see the new version, I loved it. The new show said what numerous joung people were thinking about the show. However, I have to say that the new show is one show wonder because I wouldn't like to see it again. It made its point; know it's an old joke.
I own the original show on CD, and I can see know the greatness that my mom always saw on the show from the beginning. I guess I'm older and wiser, now. The new show was cute to have for a little bit, but it is not a classic and it will never be. It is a joke, and as all jokes, they get old very fast. That's the problem with the new animated movies and theme shows, they are just looking at the NOW, instead of the future.
- April 2, 2006 at 10:22:00 PM PDT
The most unfortunate part of this is we now get to see Pirates of the Carribbean go hip with the addition of Johnny Depp. Why oh why? They should simply rename it Politically Correct Pirates Under New Management.
P.S. As much as I dislike all caps as well, I have to agree with the poster that selling that land in Florida is about fifty different kinds of stupid. How many small airports have been closed because a housing development chose to move in at the end of the runway. Here come the complaints from the homeowners north of the Magic Kingdom about fireworks noise.
- April 2, 2006 at 10:23:00 PM PDT
- Digital Jedi said...
Let me offer a completely different perspective, if I may.
I never saw the original Tiki Room, when I was younger. Not really sure why. Just never really knew it was there. I'm pretty sure when I was very young, I thought the Tiki Room was a restaurant or lounge so I never made my way towards it or showed any interest in it. Back in those days, before Fast Pass was a glimmer in anyone's eye, the majority of your park stay involved lining up for your more favored attractions, so the Tiki Room got left by the way side in liue of favored attractions.
But this last trip, I made an effort to see the "Under New Management" Tiki Room with my wife and 2 year-old daughter. My daughter fell asleep in line so there was no way to get a reaction from her. My wife watched somewhat amused, if not mildly bemused.
But me? There was one thing running through my head the whole time I was there. "This is the updated version of the Tiki Room? I hope it gets better form here on out." It didn't.
I was impressed by the Tiki Goddess who rose from the center of the room, but she was, what, two minutes of the show? Iago kept talking about how much more "animated" he was then all the other birds, but I kept waiting to see him do something impressive. He didn't.
I also LOVE Gilbert Godfrey. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to see this new version of the Tiki Room. Godfrey's characters, everything from Iago to the Aflac Duck to Mr. Mxyzptlk in the most recent Superman Animated Series, always make me laugh because he is one of those people who can truly give a two dimensional drawing, or inarticulate animal, character.
But Godfrey wasn't all that funny in this. The only joke I laughed at was the Presidents joke, and I that was another one of those attractions that had slipped by and that I had seen for the first time earlier that day, as well. I had no previous Tiki Room experience to draw upon and I was like "This is the best they could do?"
You know, after reading some of these blogs I discovered something. For years now, I had thought I was getting old. I had thought that I was not as fun loving and possibly more cynical now then I was even at twenty, because I couldn't seem to find the joy I once had at these theme parks now that I was in my thirties. I thought I couldn't enjoy the attractions because I had forgotten how to enjoy the "magic" and became obsessed with thinking about the guy behind the curtain. But I was wrong.
I didn't realize that Ellen's Jeopardy Adventure was taking me back to my house in front of the TV instead of taking me into the very realistic past of dinosaurs and volcanoes. I didn't realize that the big Mikey Wand or the giant Wizard hat was obscuring or diminishing the icons that used to fill me with awe. I didn't realize that the view of the giant hotel in plain view of one of the vistas in World Showcase was detaching me from the make believe tour of the world I used to love taking as a kid. I didn't realize that that race cars, and hang gliding and dancing on dance pads to a thugged out Mickey Mouse on the turn tables was just reminding me of the outside world instead of taking me into another world like it used to.
I didn't realize ANY of this, until I read this blog and articles with some the same spirit. I may have never known it. But you know what? I certainly felt it. It certainly was affecting my experience of the park. I didn't understand why I couldn't stop telling my wife and my guests with me on the trip who'd never been there before, about the history of every attraction and what "used to be there." And it was because I mised them. the park was missing significant portions of the old magic and inside I was missing it too.
But know I know why I felt the way I did. I just chalked it up to old age and cynicism. Turns out I wasn't the one being cynical.
My point? If it's bad, the public WILL be affected by it. I sort of liked Ellen's version of UoE. But something about it didn't quite sit right with me. I couldn't put my finger on it at the time, but something was missing from the original attraction, even though the original had one severe flaw in that the end went on for too damn long. ;) Still does really.
Yes, I have to agree with this Bird post more then any other. You know there was nothing wrong with adding Zazu and Iago to the attraction, perse. Nothing wrong with giving the animatronics a face lift and some updated (if not dated) music. Honestly, there isn't a blessed thing wrong with change and new direction. But when taking a new direction, you really need to look where your going.
Your audience may crave a certain thing. Even the numbers may show a certain thing is more viable at the gien moment. But one thing about audiences, is that they are a lot smarter then even they reailze. The trend is to underetimate their intelligence and their attention span and their likes and dislikes. Don't do that. Please.
We've got a lot more sense then even we realize some times. I didn't have a clue what I was missing in the old Tiki Room. I wasn't the bigggest fan of the long winded portions of the Universe of Energy. I kinda liked hang gliding, and being spun around at a milion miles per hour and racing around buildings at top speed. But in spite of all that, I still felt like something was missing. I wasn't sure what, and didn't know all the insider details like I do now. But the feeling was still there. You were loosing me. And I'm a VERY loyal person to my likes and history. I hang on to things. But deep down inside, Disney, you were loosing me. Doesn't that disturb you as a company somewhat? It would if I was in in charge.
But like I always say, I'm just a nobody. I certainly feel like I used to be important. Now I just feel...well, less like a guest and more like a cash cow. Like one day all I love will be slaughtered for the "grater good" or the "greater doallar". Too melodramatic? That's the way I feel.
- April 3, 2006 at 12:54:00 AM PDT
- TW said...
Tiki rap? Hella no. I loved the enchanted Tiki Room as a kid at Disneyland -- also loved it as an adult. And, honestly, Rap Music sucks Eeyore butt. Nothing about Disneyland should reflect modern culture -- that isn't the point. The Tiki Room should be what it was. Not what they want it to be. Period.
Bring back the non-topical tropical birds of the past, please. Iago and friends can go suck Pooh, for all I'm concerned. Mm. Teriyaki chicken and retro-birds. That's worth more than an "E" Ticket, in my book...
- April 3, 2006 at 2:49:00 AM PDT
My 2 cents: The orginal tiki room is one of my favorite attractions. My family goes to WDW every year for a week and we always stay in the Polynesian Resort because of our love for the romanticism of the islands and a love of Oceania. So by that you can see that the Tiki Room is one of our top attractions. To be honest I can hardly remember a time that the Tiki Room was packed. I can remember watching the pre-show and thinking this is it, no more people? I was a bit shocked when the Imagineers gave this attraction a facelift. But I can totally understand why. Yes, I know what you're saying! The Tiki Room is an orginal, a classic, it was the 1st attraction to use AA. Well in Disneyland that is very much true, not so much for Disney World. Do I hate the new version, no. Do I think it's cute? Yes, I do. Has attendence went up since the face lift? Well from my last visit it had and the one before that and the one before that. It's sad to see things change but I do believe it was Walt himself that said, "As long as there's Imagination left in the world, Disneyland would never be complete." I think the same goes for Disney World. Don't get me wrong I still miss the orginal.
- April 3, 2006 at 3:10:00 AM PDT
- annegirl said...
Thank you.
I hate the "new management" Tiki Room. I refused to see it for years, and only finally went to it on my honeymoon because my husband wanted to see it. It was painful.
- April 3, 2006 at 3:14:00 AM PDT
- Steve Barron said...
I have seen this bad new remake during my last few visits. I don't want to stop going entirely because the first minute is still good. :)
I was at the WDW Tiki Room on Saturday and certainly agree that is a sad shadow of what it used to be. The woman with whom I attended didn't recognize that the "bird or paradise" verse was still in the show because it was unintelligible!
I'm guessing little kids might like the new show better than the old because of the new characters. But lots of us grown ups (you know, the ones who actually have the money?) would prefer the classic.
There was no line at all and the show was only 50-60% full on a Saturday early afternoon. People wouldn't even go see it for the air-conditioning!
I wonder how hard it would be to have two shows in the same space, alternating versions - leaving Iago and Zazu parked in their tubes during every other show. Clocks outside could display time to each kind of show. Toggling the barker bird outside vs William and Morris might be more of a challenge, but not insurmountable for the imagineers!
I am so not looking forward to what they are going to do to Pirates of the Carribean - another classic favorite.
- April 3, 2006 at 6:25:00 AM PDT
- Dave said...
Rides and attractions dreamed of, designed, and created 30-40 years ago still bring in large crowds. Why? Because they didn't cater to any particular group. They simply went out and tried to make the best ride or attraction they could, and people have been coming back ever since. I guess it's true - you need to learn from the past to go forward into the future. Catering to the thrill-of-the-moment crowd will get you nowhere, but creating something with vision will get you far.
- April 3, 2006 at 7:12:00 AM PDT
- pariartspaul said...
Mr Banks, very clever the way you compare the show makeover to management of the day! I'm up in the air about re-doing classic attractions but I agree that if it is going to be done, it should be in the spirit of the original at least, and the changes should enhance the experience. One good example of this would be Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, where new animals and scenes have been successfully added over the years, but the theme remains the same. The idea is to take something that works and add to it. In the case of the Tiki Room if it were to be updated it should still retain the theme of a magical tropical serenade. I know Marty over the years has been adamant that Disneyland's Tiki Room keep the original show as an homage to Walt as the first animatronic attraction.
Bob Gurr one of the original Imagineers on the attraction that me that one day after the show first opened he was in there checking it out during a show and Walt came in with some VIP's to see it. Walt saw Bob during the show and pointed him out to his guests proudly whispering, "See that guy over there, he's one of the guys that made all this work…" Bob was embarrassed! But it shows how very proud Walt Disney was of the show.
- April 3, 2006 at 7:19:00 AM PDT
Ok... ok.... I have been hovering around this site and I can say that there have been some brilliant and innovatve new ideas here and there, but this article and the majoirty of others are simply empty complaints about the changes which have happened. Get over it.
This particular article is a whine-fest and has little value as to what Disney can do in the future.
Tiki was boring and dated and had little or no relevance to the youth who experienced it. The new version is actually funnier and way more interesting. Think about being a 10 year old kid who walks into this theatre and sees outdated audio animatronics, character-less birds and a lackluster story. This is not the type of thing that's going to make it an instant classic for any child, especially with visual masterpeices like "It's tough to be a Bug". It had to be updated. At it's time it was a masterpiece, but what can you do??? WDW is not a museum. It has to attract and inspire the adults and the kids. What worked in 1960...or 1973 is not going to work today.
I understand that there are a lot of emotions tied into these old attractions and these emotions and memories can cloud and distort your view of new enterprises and revisions of old attractions but change is going to occur.... accept it and try and focus this blog onto new ideas and new technologies (Walt's Dream, remember) and not just bashing any change which alters the Disney Parks from your childhood memories.
- April 3, 2006 at 7:37:00 AM PDT
- Ned Land said...
This is a tough subject. On the one hand, there is a desire to keep things classic or to try to emulate the original. In 1963, the original was a creature of its time. Surely, there was rock and roll, but there was much more of an attachmcent to classical music. Additionally, Tiki Bars and Restaurants, i.e., Trader Vick's, were all the rage (and are possibly coming back).
However, klark kent 007 speaks volumes when he says, "This is the first time I had returned to this attraction since I was a child...." Unlike klark, I generally do go to the Tiki Room. I saw it in Disneyland in 1963 and continue to see it in WDW. I have been there when it was full, but, prior to the "New Management" it was usually almost empty with maybe 20 people.
When management responds to flagging attendence, are they supposed to keep it as is, redesign based on a 60's mentality or update it to the current time? I am no champion of the "New Management" theme, but I must admit that attendance appeared to pick up.
It is important to keep in mind that Disneyworld is a theme park and not a memorial. Disneyland was ground breaking when it opened, but the idea of a theme park is no longer revolutionary.
Since the Tiki Room was no longer drawing a crowd, should it have been left as is, and simply be an attraction that people fondly remember but do not attend, a memorial to the birth of audio animatronics? Should it have been removed and replaced with a different attraction?
I do not believe Walt Disney anticipated that Disneyland's attractions would stay the way they were forever. Look how Walt added to Jungle Cruise. I imagine there may have been people who complained about how Walt's additions, adding humor, destroyed the "reality" of the original. However, Walt knew there had to be change to keep things fresh. Some times change works and sometimes it doesn't.
I see "New Management" as an attempt to resuscitate an attraction that wasn't attracting an audience. I do not think it will last, but will be changed again and again. That change may be in keeping with the original show concept, sort of like Fantasia. However, it troubles me when people who do not visit an attraction for years suddenly cry that a change is sacrilege. It was their failure to attend that led to a "classic" being changed in the first place. It was broke and someone had to either fix, remove or replace it.
- April 3, 2006 at 7:59:00 AM PDT
- Imagineer-in-Waiting said...
There was also some intergenerational loss here. At the original Tiki Room in DL it was one of the few places where I saw my father genuinely happy. He even liked singing the Tiki Room song. I was probably 5 or 6 at the time.
I recently took my 8-year old daughter on the New Management version. She had never seen the original. I'm glad it was only my older daughter. Uh-Oa, the tiki goddess was far too frightening for my 5-year old.
The incongruity of Iago and Zazu is also upsetting. They are cartoonish. Pierre, Michael, Fritz, and Jose are more physically accurate.
- April 3, 2006 at 8:21:00 AM PDT
I stand with parisinjune.
- April 3, 2006 at 8:35:00 AM PDT
When I was a kid growing up in Disneyland's back yard, I would run from E-Ticket to E-Ticket. Now that I am much older and a lot wiser, I miss the charm of some of Disney's slower but greater works. The Mine Train, the People Mover, Even the motor boats. There is something to be said about charm is classic and classic is charm.
- April 3, 2006 at 8:49:00 AM PDT
There is another example of management that maybe you didn't know about.
In the 80s I went to Imagineering and saw a concept for a new Tiki Room. (For all of the people that love the Tiki Room, in WDW they regularly had 1/2 of the audience getting up in the middle of the old show and leaving, so SOMETHING had to be done.)It had all of the birds becoming (in bird form) the cast of (at the time) current Disney actors (i.e. Bette Midler, Danny Devito, Siskel and Ebert, etc). Now the argument can be made that the show would become dated, but that's not the point.
The point is that "under new management" requires TWO new birds and new programming. The concept I saw required ALL new birds. Which one do you think is cheaper? Which one did Disney management go with?
- April 3, 2006 at 10:04:00 AM PDT
I TOTALLY agree with the comments about DL and WDW not being museums, BUT a balance needs to be found.
Is Great Moments of Mr Lincoln or the Tiki Room for that matter going to draw Space Mountain crowds? Or course not, but my parents or grandparents (heck not even my younger kids) can or will go on the BIG, "popular" E-tickets. That mix of attractions is what sets Disney parks apart from all the "amussment parks".
The Tiki Room in DL doesn't take up that much room. What else are you going to put there? Certainly not an E-Ticket.
What bothers me (and I'm sure many others) is when Disney removes an old attraction just to remove the attraction (think America Sings or Mission to Mars). Is any park better off with LESS attractions?
- April 3, 2006 at 10:14:00 AM PDT
- Mr Banks said...
Matt Gibbon: Lest you think this is a blog dedicated to just keeping the old and never addressing the needs for new, let me reiterate the point. I have absolutely nothing against updating rusty old attractions. The Tiki Room, for all its charm, wasn't bringing in the crowds like it once did and something needed to be done. But it's important, VERY important, to attend to the spirit of the previous incarnation rather than turning it into a self mocking parody of itself. There have been some five or six new incarnations of The Jungle Cruise, and each time it gets better.
The Disneyland version was doing poorly and some wise soul actually figured it wasn't the show, it was the show's upkeep. Sure enough their gamble paid off. The torn frayed birds were all replaced, the building was razed and then rebuilt, the soundtrack was cleaned up, the torches outside were lit, the original sign was replaced outside and for some strange reason....get this...the people came back. And in droves.
So to reiterate, if it's about rejiggering a show, do it with respect, make it bigger, better, more sophisticated, more charming. If it's about replacing wholesale, then make sure it surpasses the previous one on every level.
- April 3, 2006 at 10:18:00 AM PDT
- Digital Jedi said...
Well, I think a few of you might be missing the point of this particular blog entry. What this entry did was examine a symptom of an entire disease. By examining each symptom in detail, you can more accurately diagnose the disease and in turn, more accurately treat the illness.
Sure, some people may be content to simply say "I hated it". But don't you think that if they did the attraction correctly, if they actually created something bigger and better then the original that a side effect of the show would be lots and lots of people saying "I hated it"?
I don't know about the rest of you, but when I saw the show, there were only like fifteen to twenty people there. It was hot and in the middle of the day. Grabted, this was just one visit, but from what I saw, the show wasn't bringing them in in droves. And I have no fond memories of a classic Tiki Room to draw from. All I have is my child like sense of awe (which I haven't lost yet, contrary to what I may have thought.) And I was certainly not impressed by the shows delivery, story, music or animatronics; all of which were supposed to be better then the original. The only thing I personally liked was the Tiki Goddess, (and that was largely because she reminded me of my wife, don't ask) and even that was a just a small portion of the show.
So this blog entry and some of its replies weren't just empty whines. No more then the cries of a sick baby are just empty noise. She cries to let you know she's ill. We cry to let you know we are disappointed.
- April 3, 2006 at 11:18:00 AM PDT
- Will Robison said...
I've heard it said here that Disneyland isn't a museum. We have to remember that things are going to change. I can remember as a child being forced to go in and watch Tiki. I hated it. Hated it, hated it, hated it! My parents tolerated it because it was quiet, cool, and they got to have the Dole Pineapple Whip. That was a reason to go. But it was always a niche crowd - unlike Pirates or HM. Country Bears was another attraction that had a niche crowd. I loved Country Bears, but I could see why many people would not like it.
I enjoyed the new Tiki bird show, but its not a classic. I just think it took a niche show and opened it to a wider audience. That doesn't make it good, it just makes it different. That was the reason they kept the show the same in DL.
For DL and WDW to be successful they have to be allowed to change. I didn't like the change from Inner Space to Star Tours, but I liked the idea that I could see something different for a change. If they stopped changing things, there'd be no reason to go back so often. So we can remember Tiki birds or Country Bears the way we want to, but in the meantime, hit or miss, there are new things to see and do and new memories to be made.
- April 3, 2006 at 1:10:00 PM PDT
- Hrundi V. Bakshi said...
The Tiki Room @ Disneyland truly is a magical place and in some ways for me - a sort of time machine. It is one of the few places in the original park where I ALWAYS feel like I am in "Walt's Disneyland".
The Under New Management version has all the subtlety of a South Park episode. Yes, I enjoy South Park - in doses - in it's place. But the mean spirited attack on this classic attraction by other, newer Disney characters just seems out of place in "the Magic Kingdom". (Much like Alien Encounter seemed better suited for Disney MGM Studios than Tomorrowland)
And while it's true Disney theme parks should not be museums (even museums change and update their displays regularly) there is in our society, a place for historic preservation, buildings and sites that are kept in tact for later generations to appreciate. Perhaps Disneyland's Enchanted TIki Room is just such a place. In as much as Disneyland itself is an American original, THE theme park of theme parks - shouldn't some of it's original vision and magic be kept intact for future generations.
Afterall, these visions were guided by Walt Disney - this is not Las Vegas - bulldozing all traces of it's history and re-inventing itself every other decade.
WDW's Enchanted Tiki Room is gone forever and with it the likelihood that the mostly charmless Under New Management version will survive for many more years.
Wouldn't it be nice if the original Enchanted Tiki Room version could be re-installed somewhere off of the lobby area of The Polynesian or inside a restaurant at that resort as a variation of Walt had originally envisioned for the bird show? I'd love to eat upstairs at O'hana and then settle in for some Enchanted Tiki Room magic afterwards.
- April 3, 2006 at 2:04:00 PM PDT
Spectacularly bad idea. A perfect example of what's gone wrong. "Poochy D." comes to mind.
- April 3, 2006 at 3:01:00 PM PDT
- Rocco said...
As I commented in the post about the Tahitian Terrace, I went to the Tiki Room at Disneyland the other day with my teenage daughters. The house was packed and, we all enjoyed the show. I always have, and my wife and kids like to joke that I love that place because I can go in there and take a nap. That's not completely untrue :)
The girls love it just as much as I do, and they especially commented on how much they love the music. They have that reaction whenever they hear classic Disney music. It's a large part of the Disney experience. To hear that that music is being stripped away to make way for whatever flavor was popular in whatever year of whatever decade they decided to change something is saddening.
The idea of "the lowest common denominator" and marketing to some one type of guest is also leaving the realm of reality. Of the millions of visitors to the park, can you actually minimize the diversity of age, culture, etc. to a specific demographic? This isn't like a TV show that attracts a narrow segment of the an audience. Disneyland's audience is as diverse as the world itself. There's sure to be more of one type of person there than another, but does that mean every attraction has to be geared toward that one person.
From what I've seen, the Tiki Room has a wider appeal than it's given credit for, but even if it were only enjoyed by lazy middle-aged people, shouldn't there be some things at Disneyland for us? Let the kids go run from mountain to mountain, getting queasy on their fast rides, while we relax at the Jungle Cruise, the Tiki Room and the Main Street Theater. Our money is just as green, (and peachy-colored), as theirs, and more plentiful.
My idea of updating the Tiki Room would be to make those heads on the totem poles sync up with the soundtrack for a change. But if you really want to get drastic, program in a couple of different routines using the same set and characters, (as long as they are in keeping with the original feel). That way when you go in, you're never sure which jokes and songs you are going to hear.
One last note: The night we went there, it was cold and drizzly out, (contrary to popular belief it does get that way out here), and the Tiki Room was the perfect place to get out of the weather and into the Wonderful World of Disney.
- April 3, 2006 at 3:44:00 PM PDT
Speaking of something new...
I liked the idea of having the Tiki room in WDW alternate between shows. I'll see your two shows and raise you...more!
Why can't there be a number of songs so that everytime you go see it, you see a slightly different show? I have no problem updating the DL version, if what they did was add some more songs to their repertoire. You could keep some of the old show as "standard" then add new songs to keep it fresh. Let's see, songs about birds, songs about Polynesia, songs about flowers--I'll betcha we could find a few songs to add that might be more recognizable and fun for younger folks, and still keep the feel of the place.
These critters are programmable, right? Isn't the idea of programmable that it can be adapted? One thing that would get people to come back again and again is if they didn't see the same show each time!
- April 3, 2006 at 3:58:00 PM PDT
- Kirsten said...
Somehow, when the thought comes to update a ride or attraction, the word "update" becomes synonymous with "add characters from a recent movie". I've never seen the new Tiki show full of people either... and I feel like the level of sarcasm and crassness doesn't fit with any of the other attractions in the park. The only thing it fits with is the latest trend in CG movies (pop culture jokes every two seconds), which even now is becoming passe and can't guarentee box office success.
While kids love the animated characters, I don't know if that's the only way to be "kid friendly"... When I saw Magic Kingdom and Epcot as a kid, the things I remember most are the Universe of Energy seats suddenly moving and going into the world of dinosaurs... getting to choose a button on Horizons... going up and down through all the scenes of Spaceship Earth (tilting back was scary!)... the scary scene in Journey to Your Imagination... 20,000 Leagues... being frightened of the evil witch in Snow White... It wasn't so much the characters that were memorable as being moved into situations and places that the movie theaters, zoos and museums of Indiana couldn't offer.
I don't know that the way to update a show is to add characters... I think that visually refreshing the attraction (including new plumage design for the birds, and an entirely new color palette), and a refresh of the audio track (re-recorded with the same "retro" sensibility) could have made the attraction more new again. Why? It makes the attraction more itself -- "tiki" has a slightly different aesthetic attached to it now than it did in the 1960's... but yet, people are still charmed by tiki and the idea of travel to far-off, magical places. The Iago and Zazu rehab doesn't transport you anywhere, other than to remembering the movies... (the tiki goddess is the only element that brings the audience back to the "tropical magic" that the room is based on)...
It's a matter of finding what charms and wows an audience now... what details will make them buy into an experience... Exploring what an attractions *really* needs, rather than going to popular brands first and working from there... Branding might be the solution... but then again, it might destroy the illusion... So why depend on it as "the answer" to an attraction's problems?
Why do most people I know go to theme parks? For something new... something amazing... something different from the usual. Last week I went to Epcot with some colleagues. My friend hasn't been to Disney since she was a kid. She's about 28. "Illuminations" caused her to jump up and down like a kid again. Everyone I could see from where I stood was riveted. If "Illuminations" got old, would it be preferable to add Mushu from Mulan? I hope not... It's far from what "Illuminations" is about thematically and as an emotional experience. People would feel robbed.
Design is tough... but the best thing we can do is learn from the worst and excel above the best...
- April 3, 2006 at 5:19:00 PM PDT
Yes, I agree that the "Under New Management" version is awful. I don't like any attrction that is mean spirited, and that is the worst part of this version.
But, to follow from an earlier thread, I don't find the original version of the Tiki room timeless. Humor based on accents that are primarily European is badly outdated. In our 21st century world, who finds German, Irish, French, and Spanish accents funny? At best they are a throwback, and at worst they are insulting. So this (in my humble opinion) is a case where an attraction was designed to be "hip" in it's day and has failed the test of time.
So what sort of theme would work for the long-term? Maybe one that focuses on the beaty of far-away places, with exotic music and exotic flowers and birds. One that takes us into another place far away, and leaves us all a bit inspired in the end.
Just one person's thoughts....
- April 3, 2006 at 7:42:00 PM PDT
- Tocpe said...
While I'm not a fan of the "New Management" version, I do understand the need to update attractions. However, I do believe the spirit of the original should be respected and expanded upon, not gutted and mocked.
I do wonder if the Imagineers we're making a sly poke at the management at the time by mimicking/lampooning their short-sidedness and demands for a hip and edgy Disney. The same management who saw no wrong with DCA...
It makes me feel a little better to see the "Under New Management" version as a silent protest by the Imagineers. :)
- April 3, 2006 at 8:08:00 PM PDT
In the tiki tiki tiki room.......in the disneyland version its like coming home , you know the song , you know Jose and Pierre and you gotta love it! The thrill factor for the young , watch small children bury into a parents shoulder or arms when the tropical storm invades and the lights go out and the lightning strikes the building, even as an adult who has sit thru the show numerous times for a few briel seconds I BELIEVE that there is a thunderstorm outside! I really think the guest enjoy being submersed in the tropics being entertained by birds , flower and totems that sing and play the conga drums. The beauty of this attraction is being transported to the Tiki world of adventure.
- April 3, 2006 at 10:30:00 PM PDT
- Spork said...
I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Banks and pariartspaul. I've been reading this blog since its conception, but this post seemed to fit in best with my own philosophy of story telling and design. I've worked in several positions at both WDW and DL including design.
The Tiki Room in particular always stirs up a long standing internal debate on the merits of preserving history verses "new and exciting." In my opinion, the problem with the "new and exciting" crowd is their personal definition. "New and exciting" should never EVER be confused with "hip and edgy," yet too often it is. I don't think the average person quite understands what it is that sparks that specific feeling of awe and wonder that a great ride or great story can produce.
Haven't you ever wondered why children run around in a near constant state of fascination, or why, it seems lately, that they reach the threshold of adulthood so much earlier than past generations?
It is all interconnected to discovery, exploration and a feeling of newness. The Tiki Room was unlike anything else offered by way of entertainment in 1963, it was cutting edge. I've heard stories about people thinking real birds in Disneyland's borders were robotics back then, because suddenly so much was possible. Now, the average person knows so much more about technology and the speed with which information is thrown at us is incredible. The more you know the less likely wonder will be found in common occurrence.
This would suggest that to maintain wonder, at least from a technological standpoint, then constant update is necessary. Granted, there are certain elements of a ride or story that can remain timeless (i.e. music or plot). But technology is never timeless, sometimes historically relevant, but never timeless.
In the Tiki Room we can see this more clearly than in any other attraction. There's nothing wrong with the music or the story and yet much of the wonder is gone. Some argue that cleaning it up at DL was enough, but that's a pretty difficult stand to defend. It still doesn't fill to capacity and ALL of the ride counts are getting very healthy boosts from the 50th hoopla. But one thing is clear, shoehorning edgy, in your face, branded characters into an otherwise period tropical setting is not the answer. It adds no technological wonder and rapes the attraction of its timeless musical charm.
I have to admit however, that I am of the "new and exciting" camp, you have to be if you want to continue having awe-inspiring experiences. As such, it puts my teeth on edge every time I sit through the Tiki Room in DL and have to hear the clacking of plastic flowers and beaks.
If you want to create a more dynamic Tiki Room you don't go for the edgy quick fix. You follow Mr. Banks and pariartspauls advice, remain true to the timeless (setting, story, music) and update the dated. If you want to invoke wonder then you have to strive for excellence. This is 2006, forty-three years after we create robotic birds to capture the imagination of young and old and we can't add some birds with more fluid movements? Or better yet, some with MORE movement, enthrall us with the appearance of flight. We, as a people, went from propeller driven planes to landing on the moon in less time.
All people need to see is something they've never seen before…it's not as hard as it sounds. I'll never forget a kid I met at WDW way back during my time as a ride operator.
Near the River's of America I asked, "What's the coolest thing you saw on your trip?"
And in a thick accent I couldn't for the life of me place he exclaimed, "THE DUCKS!"
People can be easier to please than you'd think.
I've gone on too long, but this topic really hits home. Great post Mr. Banks
- April 3, 2006 at 11:02:00 PM PDT
I understand the attachments to older attractions, but honestly... this type of attraction worship is starting to remind me of rabid Star Trek fans who wear their Starfleet uniforms at conventions and bow to the feet of actors who portrayed obscure extras in the 60's.
I thought the original was charming and quaint - sort of like my grandmother's bedroom. The new one is actually funny and the story interesting. My kids usually insist we go more than once per trip. My oldest loves looking at all the detail from the "outside" rain to the "living" carvings on the wall. My youngest covers her eyes when the mad goddess appears - but she peeks anyway. Could this version become a (GASP) classic itself?
c'mon guys. The reason the Star Trek fans became annoying was they couldn't poke fun at themselves. That is exactly what the "New Management" version is doing. Let's have some fun.
- April 4, 2006 at 5:04:00 AM PDT
- Patrick Johnson said...
Great observation.
Isn't the same thing happening to the submarine ride at Disneyland?
- April 4, 2006 at 10:08:00 AM PDT
- Merlin Jones said...
>>c'mon guys. The reason the Star Trek fans became annoying was they couldn't poke fun at themselves. That is exactly what the "New Management" version is doing. Let's have some fun.<<
MBA's and marketers are the new Star Trek geeks - - totally without self awareness or a sense of humor. They are the reason so much of entertainment is a drag. Loud and self-mocking is neither funny nor hip.
Give me Walt's corny sincerity anyday.
- April 4, 2006 at 10:40:00 AM PDT
The good news is that the Tiki Room in Disneyland did not go "Under New Management". Instead, the animatronics now all work (well, mostly all work, we saw a few wilted flowers that didn't sing like they should have) and the music is the same.
It's a wonderful slice of Disney history and many of us in the courtyard before the show found ourselves remembering how we would eat cold pineapple on hot days while waiting to go inside.
It's one of the few places at Disneyland where you can still feel Walt's presence.
- April 4, 2006 at 10:52:00 AM PDT
- Roger Alford said...
I was excited when I learned that Iago and Zazu were going to be added to the Tiki Room in WDW -- I thought it was a good idea to update the show and make use of new Disney characters. But then I saw the show, and it was rather disappointing. What's more, it scared my daughter half to death. To this day, she still won't go into the Tiki Room, and she's 10 now. A few years ago, we went to Disneyland and she didn't want to go near the Tiki Room. After I assured her that this was the old version without the Tiki Goddess, she nervously agreed to go in, and she loved it. Now when we go to WDW, she wishes the old Tiki Room was still playing there.
I agree with Mr. Banks that the best way to update an attraction is to keep to the spirit. To update the Tiki Room, they should make the birds fly around the room. How would they do that? No idea. But it would really get people talking. As Walt said, "It's always fun to do the impossible."
- April 4, 2006 at 11:55:00 AM PDT
I gotta say, I don't hate the "updated" Tiki Room at WDW. I would be really bummed if the DL version was similarly tampered with, but I take a step back and look at things differently. What happens in the new show? A crass interloper comes in and, with all the subtlety and sensitivity of Michael Eisner himself, tries to "hip-ify" the show and gets blown up at the end. Iago actually waves a white flag. Yes, the show has changed, but I kinda like the fact that the show incorporates the idea that tampering with tradition can get you into trouble. A wry commentary in the new post-Eisner era. Admittedly, it's only funny on that level to a few of us Disney Dweebs.
- April 4, 2006 at 12:33:00 PM PDT
- Allison said...
I'm not a huge fan of "Under New Management" mainly because I don't get to here the song enough in it. But I have to disagree with you Kirsten...I wasn't really a kid when Epcot opened but it was dullsville for me as a teenager. And I did visit WDW for the fist time when I was 6 and the park had been open for one year. All I remember was wanting to meet characters, see characters, etc.
And now that I have kids I get to see it all over again and with them it's even MORE about the characters (which is why I'm so thrilled about the whole Pixar thing). It's not about the technology, it's all about the stories and the characters that become part of your life.
Nowadays, my kids LOVE to go to Epcot...you know why? Turtle Talk with Crush (character) and they get to see all the different characters and Princess in the different countries.
My point is, I am in total agreement that the attraction needed to change and if Tocpe is right and this was the Imagineers giving one to "the man" then so bit it. I just wish it had a better story and characters instead of just throwing in the only two birds that we had available to us at the time.
- April 4, 2006 at 12:57:00 PM PDT
- ChristianZ said...
Never seen the WDW version but have wanted to since I like Iago and Zazu but from what I am reading here they added those two birds in in an awful way. My family and friends tease me because I can never go to Disneyland without going to the Tiki Room. And it always seems like it is full and that people enjoy the show. Tasteful updating would be perfectly appropriate.
- April 4, 2006 at 1:05:00 PM PDT
- Pragmatic Idealist said...
Stepping into a tropical aviary where tiki gods have enchanted birds from around the world so that they are able to sing words is, and always will be, magical.
How can one expect unqualified imbecils, who are devoid of imagination, to maintain the artistic integrity of something that was the product of true genius?
- April 4, 2006 at 4:41:00 PM PDT
- kaicito said...
great post! i've always felt the enchanted tiki room was a very special place, with a unique and truly enchanting immersive experience. i rather than merely on misguided corporate greed, blame the (now happily retracted) "updating" on a spirit of postmodernism, where everything is ironically, even snidely commented on, where every expression has to include its own negation. or maybe i'm getting too philosophical here.
- April 4, 2006 at 10:48:00 PM PDT
- Cameron said...
When my wife and I were married 3 years ago, we went to Disney World for our honeymoon. She had never been, and I was excited to she her all my childhood favorites. I was saddened when I found out Tiki had changed so much. Neither of us liked it! I felt she had been robbed.
- April 5, 2006 at 4:44:00 AM PDT
Well stated. I saw "Under New Management" once and only once. Whenever I return to WDW, visiting the attraction seldom enters my mind, though I make it a point to visit all the other classic attractions in the area. I imagine there are others who are not ones to complain who share the same attitude.
I recently received a copy of Extinct Attractions DVD on The Carousel of Progress where there was a brief scene of the Tiki Room barker bird. I don't recall seeing him out the last time I visited Disneyland last February, but I wonder how many more people would visit the Tiki Room if the barker bird were back out in front with either the classic or a fresh spiel. The Tiki Room doesn't lend it self to attracting a crowd, as it blends in so well with its surroundings. It needs the barker bird to help draw the crowd and add character to the area.
- April 5, 2006 at 11:38:00 AM PDT
- Andrew McFerrin said...
Perhaps the most frustrating thing about the Tiki room's makeover is that, for all the noise, the result is about as edgy as a box of Pampers. The show name-drops punk and rap, but doesn't supply either style in any meaningful way (Disney's concept of rock and rap music calcified somewhere around 1988, it seems).
Thus, they massacred the original attraction - which I've never seen, and now sadly never will - to present a newer, noisier one with no charm, no wit, and STILL no relevance to the hipster pop culture Disney's trying to connect with. They've failed to achieve their (ignoble) goal in overhauling the attraction in the first place.
I didn't walk out of "Under New Management" thinking Disney was hip - I walked out thinking Disney was desperate. These are not thoughts one should be having at WDW.
- April 6, 2006 at 8:09:00 AM PDT
Thank you, H.P. Hovercraft!
Calling any of these "Under New Management"-esque changes "hip" or "edgy" is really a big joke. It ends up coming off as it truly is: a corporate, corny, watered-down version of what's supposedly cool.
I know their hearts are in the right place, but I still gotta wince whenever I hear from some of my fellow Disney fans who think that adding Johnny Depp to POTC is "hip," or having birds faux-rap is "hip."
The Disney - or any mainstream media monster - version of "hip" never is. Was the rock and roll portion of America Sings really "hip"? Come on now.
(But of course these false notions always give some people a reason to push their completely irrelevant "rap music sucks" agenda.)
But while some Disney fans are a bit mistaken about what "hip" really means, they're definitely not as bad as that old "New Management" who was absolutely certain they knew what "hip" is/was.
- April 6, 2006 at 1:23:00 PM PDT
Oh horror. I'm suddenly having flashbacks to that episode of Star Trek where Spock jams on his Vulcan harp with the hippie space teens. It's a prime example of a misguided attempt to capitalize on pop culture. I haven't seen "Under New Management" but it sounds like a similar situation. Understanding what the public wants is an extremely fine talent. Not even Walt Disney himself was 100% on target all the time. But the more important talent is to recognize when one has produced a stinker, and to do someting about it.
I have to agree with the true premise of this posting....that there is a cynicism in a lot of today's entertainment that has been creeping into the Disney parks. It's present in the humor that puts-down and degrades others. It's part of a mentality that thinks the public isn't sophisticated enough to enjoy finely produced shows and will settle for a cheaply generated thrill instead. Mostly though it comes from an attitide that considers other to be "whiners" when they stand up for what they believe in -- an attitude that dismisses dreamers as silly.
- April 6, 2006 at 8:29:00 PM PDT
Am I gonna get lynched if I say I actually liked the new Tiki Room? Because I did. I recall the old one actually boring me when I was little. Besides, you all act like it's gone forever. Isn't the original still in Disneyland?
- April 6, 2006 at 9:06:00 PM PDT
reading thru some others posts, something came to mind. The problem with corporate america trying to do hip and edgy is simple....THEY ARE SUITS! not to mention, by the time they research it to death and have all their meetings about whats cool, the ship they were trying so hard to hop on, has already sailed. that "in" thing has run its course. In the end, it looks cheesey, it is cheesey, and those at the top with all the power look like idiots.
Today's society moves so fast, once you are done with your R&D on what's cool today, its already yesterday's news.
on another short note...kill the R&D dept. Bring back some story telling types, some movie making types, and let Imagineering do their jobs already PLEASE! i have not, and WILL not see "under new management" its just not my thing. its not the kind of "fun" i make my trek to disney for.
- April 7, 2006 at 9:51:00 AM PDT
- Mistress Sally said...
I had been a fan of the Disney experience my whole life until I worked for them. You just said everything that I felt and had no words for. They lost their idealistic vision of truth, beauty and wonderment. I hope they get it back.
- April 7, 2006 at 10:04:00 AM PDT
- Nick Zegarac said...
Sick. Just sick. The unfortunate forward motion (though not forward thinking) of today's imagineers has resulted in a litany of attractions revised for the postmodern age, which of course means that they will be obsolete before you can say, M-I-C-K-E-Y...
Perhaps a few old cliches might better suffice: 1) A Classic Never Dies. 2)Everything old is new again. 3)Optimism requires no revision - it is eternal. 4) The birth of one new idea is the death of a million others. 5) Nothing beats a great pair of 'eggs! Tiki bird eggs, that is.
- April 7, 2006 at 4:20:00 PM PDT
- Mr. Dawes Sr. said...
Okay, Anon, but I don't think you mean R&D. R&D are the people who invent new technologies and gadgets -- Research and Development -- you don't want to get rid of them. You want to get rid of the statisticians, chartmakers, focus groupies and department of redundant poll-taking department, and that's a completely different group called Strategic Planning. It's where you go if you have absolutely no talent whatsoever but were somehow able (through dumb good looks, preppy wardrobe, and Daddy's connections) to get a business scholarship to an ivy league school and have nothing to show for it but a certificate. The only talent required is simple math and memorizing a few buzz words like benchmark, leverage, NPV, ROI, VPL, etc.
Thankfully Iger saw the uselessness of this group and disbanded it as a corporate entity...but they still lurk in each of the lines of business, "adding value" as it were...
- April 7, 2006 at 8:36:00 PM PDT
- Klark Kent 007 said...
I guess the WDW Tiki Room should be called "The Disenchanted Tiki Room"
- April 9, 2006 at 4:01:00 AM PDT
Noone mentioned the horrific pre-show! As I can remember, you see two money-greedy tropical birds with city accents squabbling over who's richer and who's gunna make a higher profit with their new feathered host (Iago or Zazu).
It's so awkward being welcomed in a beautiful waterfall/tiki oasis with two modern-day, painfully loud, screaming birds. It just doesn't transport you into the light, optimistic world that was once the Enchanted Tiki Room.
I clearly remember one of the pre-show birds yelling, "Beat this you hockey puck!! I just signed the Mighty Ducks!"
Oh how sad it is. . .
- April 9, 2006 at 5:11:00 PM PDT
Having worked in the park from 1971 through 1978 at the Pendleton Exhibit (remember the leasees?), then as an engineering design consultant to WED a number of times since, I can truly state that the Disney corporate, under the fine leadership of Mr. Eisner and his ilk, has upheld the concept of "The Tragic Kingdom."
My only consolation is that the books will eventually balance, and the karmic debts that they have incurred will be called.
J. Dreher
- April 10, 2006 at 7:57:00 AM PDT
Mr. Dawes,
What i actually meant was get rid of R&D as its own entity. Imagineering used to (as i believe another post in this blog mentions) a huge R&D department in and of itself. My comment, was basically stating that with the R&D seperate from the Imagineers....
hmm how to put this.
if there are say 10 folks in R&D and say 1000 Imagineers...what the heck are the rest imagining? i would think they are imagining what it must have been like to be there when EVERYONE was free thinking and the ideas flowed in and out of the place. Walt didnt create an actual R&D, he grabbed some craftsmen, some engineers, some artist, and others threw them together in a building, gave them lots of toys and space to come up with ideas and said...figure it out.
there is no need for a seperate R&D department. yes, thank goodness that other sect was torn apart and thrown on on their shoestring budgets.
- April 10, 2006 at 12:20:00 PM PDT
This post perfectly explains why I felt the "Under New Management" show was so appalling. It was great to read (although it did get me riled up all over again).
It's possible to update an attraction without destroying the spirit of the original (and deriding the people who enjoyed it).
Thank you for another great post!
- April 13, 2006 at 4:16:00 PM PDT
The new tiki room sucks.
That's exactly how I feel about it.
The tiki room used to be my favourite attraction and I was so disappointed in the remake when I first saw it, I almost cried. Really.
It's just so... crappy. It really stinks. I can't say that enough.
I just wish that, even if they wanted to add the annoying jerky movie birds, at least they could have alternated the two shows and shown the classic tiki room show sometimes? I don't know if this is practical but it would make me happy!
The tiki room was so magical at one point in time. I was excited and intrigued by it! As a child, seeing talking and singing birds was fascinating. They were never boring to me. This new show is disgusting to me.
I never go in anymore. My boyfriend has never been in the tiki room because I didn't want to waste our time there last year when we went on our first trip together. That makes me a little sad.
- May 17, 2006 at 10:35:00 AM PDT
I hate the "new and improved" Tiki Room. My son, who is 7, never knew the original. When I played the song from the original in the car on our trip down there two weeks ago, he said "Come on, dad. Play the new version!" All he has known of the Tiki birds is the absurd version with Iago and Zazu and it's hard to get him to realize what a work of art the original was.
- May 18, 2006 at 12:42:00 PM PDT
- Doug Rail said...
One of my favorite childhood memories, one I was excited to share with my children, RUINED!
- June 8, 2006 at 7:59:00 AM PDT
Could this be satire by imagineers who were forced into this. It seems to represent the dark side of Disney's corporate philosophy a little bit too well.
- October 9, 2006 at 4:52:00 PM PDT
I reiterate the comment about 'I never go there anymore'. Iago was an annoying pain in Aladdin, why would I want to ever see him again? Oh, I know, because I've got a shot gun with a single bullet that his name on it and he's (as they say) bolted to the floor.
David H
- December 3, 2006 at 12:10:00 PM PST
It is brilliant on your part to have noted that this crass "makeover" is not ONLY Exhibit A, but also the apt metaphor, for the Krude Korporate Kulture. The "Takeover" is truly revolting!
- March 13, 2007 at 10:02:00 PM PDT
I totally agree with Matt Gibbon.
Most of you folks seriously need to get lives!
- June 3, 2007 at 11:49:00 AM PDT
- Greg Manwaring said...
I was in shock to read this, but relieved when Merlin said it had been restored!!!!
- October 29, 2007 at 2:29:00 AM PDT
When I was growing up...I went to Disneyworld 30+ times and Disneyland in California, Once... so I have a large heart full of magical memories at Walt Disney World in Orlando and of all those memories I cherish those of The Enchanted Tiki Room with Jose and company leading the show... even a 41 years of age I know all the song tunes and many of the words...I cannot tell you the many times I have even parodied the "Its time for you to Go" ending song to people visiting and its truly time for them to go :) lol .... In the mid 1990s I was forced to stop visiting WDW like I used to because I found out I needed two total hip replacement surgeries but that I needed to wait a few years before having them...NOW they are complete and I am ready to return to Disney again and the first place I intended to go was The Enchanted Tiki Room...I had heard there was an update at WDW so I wanted to preview it BUT after viewing a YOUTUBE version of Under New Management I must admit shedding a few tears of sadness... No more Jose leading the flock, No "In the Tiki tiki tiki room" no "When the Flowers Sing".. NONE OF IT IS IN THE WDW SHOW. What the Disney Imagineers were trying to do was Noble, BUT they missed the mark by a million miles... The show actually insults those of us (quite directly and verbally by the new characters) who enjoyed the old show... My brother just purchased a DVC (disney vacation club timeshare)membership for all of us to enjoy, so now I can see a long happy future of visits to Disney in our midst... And while yes the original Enchanted Tiki Room lives on in Disney Land, it is very expensive for us when you consider that we live on the West coast of Florida and only 2 1/2 hours now from Walt Disney World! The Enchanted Tiki Room has always been the first thing I see in my mind and feel in my heart when I think of WDW... Those birds are alive to me (and yes I understand the robotic technology).... If I had a chance to have my picture with any Disney character, I Love Mickey, Goofy, etc...BUT my choice always was and always will be with a picture of Jose...
If any Disney Imagineers read this... Please change it back or as a compromise perhaps design the show to alternate at different hours between the new show and the old show...I know it can be done with a little adjustment.
Disney wants to grant us a Million wishes...I do no want money, nor some special hat, or anything, Just PLEASE consider returning Jose and the Tiki Room to us at WDW before I get to go there in November (right after thanksgiving).
Bob from Punta Gorda, Florida
- May 31, 2008 at 1:39:00 PM PDT
Well, this post is a bit old, but I'll post a comment, anyway.
I visited the "new" Tiki Room with my daughter a few months ago. It sucked.
Where is the classic song? The goofy fun? This attraction has Jeffrey Katzenberg written all over it. Now please return it to normal.
- August 23, 2010 at 10:22:00 AM PDT


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Difference between revisions of "Project DD"
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'''Monday, February 26, 2007, 7 p.m. EST'''
'''Monday, February 26, 2007, 7 p.m. EST'''
Online conference call for team members.
Online conference call for team members. [[ALAELDDMinutes-3]]
==Communication Responsibilities==
==Communication Responsibilities==
Revision as of 20:05, 26 February 2007
Marketing plan for LibraryCareers.org
Team Members
- Cortez, Regina
- Hudson, Alexia
- Johnson, Qiana
- Rousu, Robin
- Wood, Carolyn
Team Mentor
Staff Liaisons
- Lorelle Swader
- Beatrice Calvin, Program Officer, Placement & Recruitment ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment
Group E-mail
Upcoming Events and Deadlines
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Group e-mails to Alexia no more than six selected items from the WOT buckets to include in marketing plan along with time frame information and short and long term goals for each.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Alexia sends out chart compiling the items selected from the WOT.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007, 7 p.m. EST
Online conference call for team members. http://188.8.131.52/masteradmin/room.asp?id=rsdfb444a78f1e
Friday, June 22, 2007
Emerging Leaders meeting and poster session.
Monday, June 25, 2007, 8:00-10:00 a.m.
ALA Recruitment Assembly.
Past Events and Deadlines
Friday, January 19, 2007 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Emerging Leaders orientation, training, fire drill, and project team meetings. Attended by team members.
Team members introduced themselves, discussed what experience and skills they bring to the project, and began initial project planning.
Friday, January 19, 2007 6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Initial meeting with team mentor. Attended by team members, team mentor, and Beatrice Calvin from the ALA HRDR office.
Larry introduced himself and conveyed valuable background information about the librarycareers.org website. Beatrice introduced herself and answered some preliminary questions from team members regarding budget and other logistics.
Monday, January 22, 2007 8:00 - 10:00 a.m.
ALA Recruitment Assembly. Attended by Carolyn Wood.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Deadline for team members to e-mail questions to Carolyn for her to compile and submit to our ALA Contact.
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Deadline for team members to e-mail ideas for marketing tools and methods (brainstorming) to Alexia for compilation.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007, 8:30 p.m. EST
Online conference call for team members. Minutes
Tuesday, February 13, 2007, 8:30 p.m. EST
Online conference call for team members.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Team members submit SWOT analyses to Alexia.
Monday, February 26, 2007, 7 p.m. EST
Online conference call for team members. ALAELDDMinutes-3.doc
Communication Responsibilities
Carolyn will be the primary contact person for our ALA staff liaisons.
Alexia will be the primary contact person for our team mentor.
Robin will be the point person for editing the wiki.
Regina will be the point person for the listserv.
Qiana will be the point person for the blog.
Background Information From Larry:
Recruitment and Retainment Web Site Narratives
Background Information From Beatrice:
Previous Promotions of librarycareers.org
Components for the ALA Recruitment/Retention Web Sites (Draft)
Answers to Questions from Group DD

subset: commoncrawl


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Preparation for the marriage is one of the most stressful periods in a life of a girl. The choosing of dress, hairstyle, and make-up trap a bride in an endless cycle. And then its needed to take care of shoes. Lets figure out how to make all in time and to find a pair of shoes which make even Cinderella be jealous.
Features and advantages of gold flat shoes for wedding
Shoes are the foundation for any form. Your gait, health, and mood will depend on a good pair for your legs. Uncomfortable shoe, too high heel or just inappropriate appearance of your shoes can spoil the memories about the happiest day. In order not to let this happen, take the choice of gold flat shoes for wedding seriously.
Many manufacturers of fashionable shoes offer the special collections for a wedding.
Such pairs differ with stylish appearance and comfortable stable heel, specifically:
- The elaborate design of shoes, which eloquently speaks about their belonging;
- Right form and height of a heel which suits for long walks and dancing until morning;
- Care about a health of legs. Designers consider duration and saturation of the holiday, and create gold flat shoes for wedding which are maximally comfortable for you;
- The color spectrum of shoes which matches traditional colors;
- And, finally, fidelity to traditions. You will be offered shoes that are accomplished in a traditional style which is specific for wedding celebrations.
Choose a heel
The heel is one of the most important shoe parts, its height and stability are responsible for convenience, and its design is responsible for the beauty of the pair. Thats exactly why were offered a wide variety of heels, from the highest to almost complete absence of a heel.
Sole. Do you dream about a traditional outfit, but you also want to add zest to your image? Theres a solution: choose shoes with funny inscriptions or paintings on the sole.
A transparent heel is an unusual decoration even for a simple pair of shoes. Such heel provides a shoe with fairy and futuristic appearance.
Choose shoes in accordance with the season
Winter shoes should be closed and stable for the case if you decide to walk on snow or ice. Give a preference to pumps on a stable heel of average height.
During a summer heat, its more appropriate to wear sandals or open-toe shoes which are made with genuine leather or soft textile.
For off-season (autumn and spring) any models are appropriate. The choice depends only on the style of your dress.
Beautiful colors of gold flat shoes for wedding
The time, when wedding shoes were being created in shades of white, has gone. Showcases of wedding salons speckle with colorful models.
Shoes of bright colors felicitously complement a bright dress but they can combine with white, creating the pair with the grooms suit.
If the idea of festive outfits for groom and bride lets do it, use the interesting and popular method, namely, find the shoes for the bride of the same color with grooms socks or with any of his other accessories. Lovers of stylish details replicate such a fashionable method during wedding photo sessions.
Materials of gold flat shoes for wedding
For every event, its more appropriate to wear shoes of natural materials. To create a masterpiece, designers often have to use different synthetic materials. Its better if synthetic materials are used only for creating some decorative pieces.
How to choose gold flat shoes for wedding
As we have already understood, the most important thing is a convenience, namely, a comfortable shoe and a stable heel. Specific characteristics of comfort are individual, somebody can resist on spikes the whole day, other bride loves ballet shoes;
Correspondence with wedding form. Shoes have to complete your dress ideally;
Pay attention to size, shape, and color of the pair, maybe, will you be able to wear it in everyday life? Theres not an ideal recipe, they say, you have to fall in love with the ideal pair of shoes at first sight.
What to wear with
Its not enough to choose shoes only, its also important to combine them with other wedding attributes. Therere some common rules of combination shoes and dress which mustnt be violated even in such a festive day:
- If you choose shoes on a high heel, combine them with any dress;
- Middle heel shorten a leg a bit, so avoid mid" length, choose a floor-length dress;
- Low heel requires the high and slim body. Its allowed to combine such height with a long dress. Tall girls can allow themselves to combine it with above the knee dress.
It is worth to choose sneakers as the wedding shoes for young girls with a fluffy short dress.
The fresh design ideas of gold flat shoes for wedding for brave brides:
- Its possible to combine open sandals with lace socks, turning ordinary shoes into the designer accessory;
- Shoes can combine by color and style with the grooms accessories or bridesmaids dresses, creating the integrity of the wedding outfits.
Stylish images
The combination of the shade of shoes with a brides bouquet looks gentle and unusual.
Do you have the classical wedding? Hide the bright shoes under a fluffy dress, let their color be your secret weapon on photos.
The delicacy of summer image will be emphasized with the light weightless dress, complemented with light sandals.
Have you chosen a dress in the New Look style? Find unusual shoes for it and support their color with a brooch appropriate by color.
Does an amazing photo session on a field wait for you? Take care that gold flat shoes for wedding are appropriate. Its a great reason to put on sneakers.
A beautiful dress which is decorated with flowers doesnt require additional decorations. Combine it with laconic shoes in tone.
Not only the groom can wear a pantsuit. Choosing such outfit, give a preference to shades of white, for shoes, an ideal choice is classical pumps on a high heel.
Any girl dreams to plunge into a fairy tale for a short time. Shoes, which are as beautiful as crystal ones, and fluffy dress help feel like a princess.


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Tides of War (with spoilers galore!)
Technology has not been kind to me today. I waited patiently for the patch to deploy (these things take time) but some weird glitch prevented Vosskah's install from patching correctly and so I spent a lot of time fretting about that. I wrote an entire blog entry that WordPress then ate. (This isn't that post, that post is gone forever and you only get this post). I had just enough time to mess around with addons a bit before a guest arrived. I spent some precious moments with the target dummies after; long enough to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that FIRE MAGES ARE AWESOME. More about that later.
Meantime, the technology that worked most unfailingly for me today was my Kindle, as it happily delivered the new Christie Golden book, Tides of War, while I slept. I read it in bits and pieces throughout the day and then in one big gulp at the very end. What follows is part review, part synopsis, part reflection on the events in the book – and most importantly, it is chock full of spoilers.
Do not read any further if you don't want spoilers for the new Tides of War book about Jaina Proudmoore.
I can't say this more plainly.
Come back after you've read the book if you intend to, and you don't want anything spoiled for you. If you are someone who is subscribed by e-mail, delete this e-mail before reading it!
If you 1) don't care about spoilers or 2) have no intention of reading the book but want to know what happens in it anyway, then read on. I'll put a big image here to keep people from seeing spoilers they may not want to see. If you scroll past the image and have things spoiled for you, I claim no responsibility.
Okay. Are those folks gone? Now let's talk about the book.
I've found the Warcraft books in general to be somewhat hit and miss. Arthas was a big miss with me (and I bought that one in hardcover). I like Rise of the Horde because it is the most information about draenei ever put in one place. This book continues more in the vein of the pre-Cataclysm book in that it's closely tied with in-game events as well as published concurrently. The book itself opens about a week to a week and a half before the destruction of Theramore. The way it's structured actually worked extremely well for me, lulling me into a false sense of security. In a way, even though I knew events would somehow lead to Theramore's destruction, I was still deceived by the beginning parts of the book. Jaina is in Theramore, Jaina is generally happy, you get to meet Jaina's new apprentice and all of her friends and staff in Theramore. They joke about conjuring cookies. I'm not even kidding.
So I started out really excited. This book is awesome! There are so many mages! They are my cookie-conjuring brethren.
Then things start to get real.
The initial conflict of the story begins with the blue dragonflight losing control of the Focusing Iris. You'll remember it from such events as making it possible to use the surge needles in Northrend and channel the arcane power from the ley lines while under Malygos' control. It also helped to animate Chromatus (in the Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects) book. This is an artifact of truly awesome power, and you'd think they'd keep a better eye on it. The Iris is stolen while the blue flight is attempting to relocate it – no word on how the Horde knew where and when to find it, incidentally. They were going to disguise and then hide it in the ocean but that didn't pan out.
Things escalate from there, with Garrosh announcing plans to move against North Watch and subsequently Theramore and ultimately all of Kalimdor; he wants to use a victory against Kalimdor to isolate and eliminate all Alliance presence from it while helping himself to the resources and lands contained therein. Not everyone in the Horde is too happy about that, and it's a subplot throughout the book that Garrosh's methods and his Kor'krons grow increasingly violent. Orgrimmar is for all intents and purposes under martial law. Though this is understated, it's understood that if someone isn't cheering loudly enough for the warchief or if they dare to voice any discontent, they're going to either quietly disappear or show up with a few more bruises than they had before. Baine and Vol'jin aren't excepted from this, though Baine is the more outspoken of the two. Unfortunately for the trolls, their weaker position with the Horde makes it so that openly defying Garrosh is tantamount to suicide and Vol'jin's hands are tied.
Baine is also victim to what happens here, because the Tauren need the Horde but Baine violently disagrees with Garrosh's motives, methods and leadership. It's made clear from the start that he feels ambivalent about what is happening but is caught up in events. Yet I think even Baine doesn't immediately understand the depths to which Garrosh will sink.
This is actually worth mentioning here, before I forget, and it was Voss who asked me – do I think that Garrosh's actions in ToW are out of character or forced? All along, people have been saying that Garrosh will need to do something truly horrific before it can be justified that he be the end-boss of an expansion. Heck, Rades and I did a comic about this very thing. Many people seemed to say "Yes, Garrosh is warlike, but he hasn't really done much to warrant being especially targeted." Well, the events in Tides of War sure change that in a shocking way.
Back to the actual synopsis of the book – so the blue dragonflight loses control of the Focusing Iris. It's not known who has it, merely that it's gone. Kalecgos is able to trace it somewhat but then his sense of it disappears. He's lost and frantic about how the artifact could be used, and so he seeks aid which is how he winds up in Theramore and meets Jaina. (I believe this is the first time they meet). Jaina, Kalec and a crack force of mages try to discover how to uncover the artifact so that he can trace it. How they do so doesn't really matter – the crux of it is that Kalecgos is eventually able to sense the Iris and it is zigzagging all over Kalimdor. This should have been their first hint that it's somehow airborne, but this doesn't seem to occur to anyone. It's not being borne on a dragon's back, so how is it doing that? Anyway, Kalec realizes he will just be exhausted chasing it all over the place so he goes back to Theramore.
Here's where the romance part comes in. If you've read the interview WoW Insider did with Christie Golden, this romance is alluded to. I have some feelings about it. First, Jaina and Kalecgos as a pair isn't too far-fetched, I suppose. He fell in love with Anveena, after all, and she was human(oid) and ended up being the Sunwell. So his romantic indiscretions with the 'younger' races are documented; he obviously doesn't always have a thing for other dragons. It's a joke in the book itself that Jaina isn't exactly known for choosing the best romantic interests – Kael'thas (though they were barely involved, and Arthas…we all know how that one ended. Anyway, I don't think Kalec is actually a bad choice for her. He's a blue dragon so they have magic in common, and they're both obviously powerful magic-users. In short, I like the romance but I think it was constrained quite a bit by the nature and length of the book. This is often my feeling about "one-book romances." If you have a trilogy of books telling a story, you have time to do the more leisurely "maybe they're starting to have feelings for each other" followed by the "something happens to keep them apart" that ultimately culminates with the satisfying "they're finally together" feeling. In a book of this scope with this much story to tell, it's tough to write a convincing romance but I think Golden did the best she could. You could also argue that in desperate times people will often turn to one another with feelings that are more quickly realized than would otherwise occur.
Still, I tend to think of dragons as being less impulsive than regular people. They seem to love each other awfully quickly, which makes it less believable, but again – you work with what you have. So Kalecgos and Jaina are together by the end of the book, and throughout it he seems to flit back and forth a bit as he's torn between his desire to recover the incredibly powerful artifact his people lost (whoops) and his twitterpated feelings towards Jaina. It's rough, though. I feel for him. The guy only got to be a dragon Aspect for no time at all (to a dragon) and now he's mortal again and his dragon buddies are all "Whelp, see you later" and he's left holding the bag for having lost the Focusing Iris. So perhaps it's natural that his attentions would turn strongly towards an engaging young woman – a powerful mage and extremely intelligent and powerful lady in her own right.
I feel like I'm dancing around the immediate facts of the book: the destruction of Theramore. It's almost something I don't want to put into words. I don't want to talk about it, I'd rather talk about blue dragon courtship rituals. It was disgusting, and awful. Completely reprehensible and the opposite of honorable combat. This is how it happens: Jaina and Theramore have word of the coming attack thanks to Baine. North Watch falls easily as Thrall's shaman harness the power of extremely dangerous molten giants (a power that could lead to another Cataclysm, according to the book). Theramore has time to prepare. Jaina calls upon the Kirin Tor, who send aid somewhat reluctantly and with the caveat that they will only defend and not be the aggressors. Stormwind sends a fleet of ships along with a number of great generals. One of them is a draenei! Rhonin is here too. Kalecgos himself comes to Theramore's aid so that when the Horde come knocking, they're ready for them. They're able to repel the attack even though one of the Kirin Tor mages (a blood elf, naturally) is a traitor and was weakening the gates instead of strengthening them.
So it seems as if they've won at least the initial skirmish, although they've suffered losses – including all of their aerial defenses, down to the last gryphon. This is where the other shoe drops. Kalecgos suddenly becomes aware of the Focusing Iris again. It's nearby, because it's on a goblin ship. And underneath that ship is the biggest mana bomb anyone has ever seen. Kalecgos tries to detonate it in the air (where it won't harm the city) but is repelled by the defenses on the zeppelin. In a last-ditch suicide effort, Rhonin draws the power of the bomb towards himself while sending Jaina through a portal to safety. The mana bomb explodes in Theramore, killing everyone in a really large radius. Jaina is teleported to one of the rocky islands surrounding Theramore, where she still feels a significant impact from the blast but isn't killed.
I repeat: She's not killed horrifically like every single other person, including Rhonin.
I'm afraid I can't really do justice to the emotional impact of this part of the book, at least for me. Jaina's sassy gnome apprentice, Kinndy, is killed. Everyone. It's established earlier in the book that Kinndy is the only daughter of the gnome in Dalaran who lights the lights, Windle Sparkshine. I LOVE this gnome. I can't remember how many times I have followed him around Dalaran, and gone out to help light the lights myself. Just giving this character a tie to an existing in-game character meant that when she was cruelly snuffed out I sobbed. I didn't want Kinndy to die, or for her parents to lose their only daughter. I didn't even want Rhonin to die, and goodness knows I'm no Rhonin fan. (Although now that he's dead, maybe we can stop hearing about what a mage he is, a damn good one.) But for him to die like this, in such an atrocity, through such an act of treachery… it's unconscionable. Going back into the wreckage afterwards drives Jaina to the brink of sanity, as I think it would for anyone. It's not just that people died, it's that they died in a way that is so fundamentally wrong. Grief-stricken, Jaina goes to touch Kinndy's body and it dissipates into purple sand. The infusion of arcane magic fueled by the Focusing Iris has wrought awful changes on everyone it worked on. Bodies are floating, there are rips and tears in the sky itself.
Meantime, Garrosh is celebrating his flawless victory. It's clear that he feels no remorse whatsoever for the manner of this massacre, and here incredulity and hatred for him begin to set in. Baine and other Horde-members with a conscience are sickened by what has been done. Whatever the Horde has become with this madman at its helm, they feel no connection to him or his further conquests. Without going into a tiresome conquest, the rest of the book plays out fairly predictably. Jaina takes the Focusing Iris with the intention of using it to level Orgrimmar in the ultimate act of vengeance. Anduin and Varian are both appalled by the change in her, and ultimately Kalecgos and Thrall manage to talk her out of making what would have been a mistake that would change her personally even as she achieved her revenge. There are a few other good moments – Anduin blessing the Alliance troops as they leave for Kalimdor, while reflecting on the necessity of war even when you love peace – and the fact that draenei were actually mentioned in this book a few times besides as "awe inducing shaman." It seems the people of Azeroth have grown more used to draenei, or else the writers are sincerely trying to integrate them into the ongoing story. I would have only wished that one of the mages sent from the Kirin Tor had been a draenei (they had one of nearly every other race!) but we can't have everything. Draenei are always shaman and paladins and that is just the way it is (brb, rerolling).
Tides of War was a good book. I appreciated as well the subtle integration of the in-game scenario, although I missed it at the time and had to go back looking for it. At some point, there is mention of "five people" helping Jaina and Rhonin. I can see where the scenario will fit, although I honestly have no idea how that'll work for Horde players because it doesn't make any sense whatsoever for them to help Jaina or Rhonin at that part of the book. Even friendly Horde aren't going to be very welcome in Theramore at that time.
I'm also regretful that today's From Draenor With Love won't necessarily make sense in the context of actual events, although it could happen during the initial assault on Theramore! Anyway, we conceived and created it at a time when we didn't have all of the information. I think it's still a useful reflection on the horrors of war in general, especially when you have mixed allegiances and your feelings don't lie with factions but with people. For this reason, Baine is one of the most sympathetic characters in ToW for me. What an untenable position he's in. Jaina is the more obvious and sympathetic character because she's just been through truly horrific things. Baine also lost his father at the hand of the orc he's now duty bound to serve as he leads the Horde to ruin. I'm glad that by the end of the book he basically says, look buddy, eff you and don't come around to Mulgore either.
This all paints Pandaria in a completely different light for me. I am happy to explore the new land and to see the wonders it has to offer, but there's a sombre feeling. Where will all these struggles end? What more harm can Garrosh do to our people (and his own) before he's finally taken down?
Another thought: wouldn't it be awesome if the Let's Kill Garrosh raid was the only raid that you could accomplish cross-faction, with both Alliance and Horde in your party? It makes sense, doesn't it? You guys will want him dead, we'll want him dead, why can't we work together to do it?
Randomly: nice touch that when the Earthen Ring heard about what had happened with Theramore, a draenei starts to cry and she's comforted by her troll friend. I like any emphasis that our races don't necessarily determine who or what we stand for, and the Earthen Ring is one of those truly neutral groups wherein faction divisions cease to matter. See, draenei can be friends with trolls and orcs, too.
So, that is my huge ramble about Tides of War. If you made it to the end, you deserve a conjured cookie. Please feel free to say all that you need to about the book or the events in it or whatever you want in the comments. This is a spoiler-rife zone, so you don't have to hold back. Everyone was forewarned!


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Home » Sound Art - Radio Art » CURRAN, ALVIN: Maritime Rites (Dbl CD)
CURRAN, ALVIN: Maritime Rites (Dbl CD)
10 environmental concerts for radio, each with a featured performer, not always terribly prominent, and the sounds of the US Eastern Seaboard (foghorns, bells, gongs, whistles, wildlife). The featured performers are Leo Smith (tpt), Pauline Oliveros (accordion), Steve Lacy (sax), Clark Coolidge (reading), Joseph Celli (reeds), Jon Gibson sax), Malcolm Goldstein (violin), George Lewis (trombone), John Cage (reading) and Curran himself (some voice). The booklet is excellent with extended and useful background on Curran, and good documentation of the pieces. For me Oliveros, Lewis and Cage make the most interesting listening, and Curran's own 24 minute piece (about double the length of the others) is the jewel in the crown. An epic, symphonic work with environmental sound. Not for everyone, but.....
Code: 80625-2
Price: £22.00


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Chemistry: Chemical kinetics. Arrhenius equation. Logarithms. Activation energy. Reaction energy diagram.
How to set up and solve Boyle's and Charles' Law problems, with the algebra and rounding off of answers fully explained.
This video goes through the theories of Boyle, Charles and Gay-Lussac and how the equations are arrived at.
Stay updated with the latest chemical industry trends and innovations.
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ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Sew another star on the flag. Mexico will become our 51st state in 2014.
State and congressional leaders from California, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico say it's the only way to solve America's massive illegal immigration problem.
"Keep the Mexicans from sneaking across the border is like trying to shoo flies off a hog's back. We might as well make them U.S. citizens and try to get a little tax money out of them," said a source close to Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Officials of the four states bordering Mexico are secretly gathering statehood support for that country because they bear most of the cost of illegal immigration. President Obama is fully behind the initiative.
"Pregnant women enter the U.S. illegally so their babies will be born here – and thus become American citizens," said a congressman who is spearheading the move to Mexican statehood. "Mexican men slip across the border to work. And a few of them wind up in jail, costing us more than they spend here.
"We're tired of U.S. taxpayers footing the bill to provide schooling, medical and other help for illegal aliens because the federal government doesn't enforce our immigration laws," he added.
The U.S. already spends billions of dollars each year for aid to Mexico's impoverished 92 million people.
Then, of course there's NAFTA and the recent Mexican financial bailout that is costing Americans a bundle.
Mexicans are jumping at a chance for U.S. statehood, say sources. 72 percent of Mexicans say they would welcome become a state in the United States.
Some Republicans are objecting to the initiative. "We should we make them Americans? Just so they can siesta all day, draw welfare checks, eat tacos and won't have to worry about border guards leaning on them. It's ridiculous. We're the only Americans in North America!"
The fruit and vegetable growers strongly oppose statehood for Mexico, afraid that their workers may stay in Mexico. But, many believe that everybody will benefit from statehood for Mexico.
One sponsor of the bill in the White House said, "the Border Patrol is tired of grabbing illegal immigrants and sending them back to Mexico, and the ones already here, live in fear of being captured, like pre-World War II Germany when the Jewish people had to wear the star of David bands on their arms to announce they were Jewish rather than German. Germans were the ones attempting to make a distinct. Mexicans are already living and working in the United States. Most of them are working in hospitals, restaurants, landscaping and other service industries. Instead of playing tag at the border with illegal immigrants, it would be simpler to make Mexico the 51st state!"
"Changing border boundaries would eliminate the need to patrol the border and would save a lot of money. Then too, Americans wanting to vacation in Can Cun or other tropical paradises in Mexico, could freely travel to those spots. Then there would be no need to patrol the southern United States border any longer.
"Civil liberties and lifestyles would greatly improve for all Mexicans as the United States could spend its middle east war money on a worthwhile cause – namely, bring Mexico up to the same standard of living as what the Americans have already."
Say Hola to the new citizens of the United States!!


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Note: In this post "Africans" means just black Africans and IQs are on a scale where Britain = 100 and America = 98 in 2006.
"The average African IQ is 70" is something you hear on the Internet. It means that black Africans have an average IQ of 70. Some put it lower at 67. It has become an article of faith among HBDers and other scientific racists.
It is not just the Internet: it has appeared in at least 20 scientific papers and in several books and studies. It is what James Watson had in mind in 2007 when he said he was:
inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa [because] all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not really.
The number comes from Richard Lynn, professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Ulster. He took some studies where IQ tests were given to Africans, took the average and got 67.
The number is suspect for a very simple reason: Africans do way better at school than you would expect from an average IQ of 67. Given their PISA scores and other measures of school achievement, you would expect an IQ somewhere near 82.
As it turns out, Lynn's 67 is based in part on children who lost points because:
- Some were not used to pencils and could not draw. One boy said it was the first time he ever drew a picture.
- Some were not familiar with line drawings.
- Some did not wear Western clothes and so did not draw people that way.
- Many did not know about telephones, tennis, dollars, miles or other things common in America.
The main one: Most knew English only as a foreign language.
On top of that, Lynn marked down some scores and did not say why or how:
- Boys in Uganda who averaged 86 Lynn marked down to 80.
- Zulu children in South Africa who averaged 89 were marked down to 74.
- From a study on Nigeria and Sierra Leone he took the two worst samples out of five. No reason given.
Of the 42 studies he could have used, Lynn used 11. They had an average IQ of 67. The studies he did not use had an average IQ of 80. He gave no reason for his choice (though he did not seem to know about those that appeared only in African journals).
There are good reasons to throw out some studies:
- The test was not properly administered.
- The test was not given in full.
- The test takers were not a representative sample.
- The test has known cultural biases.
- The test has not been tried on a broad Western sample, making it hard to compare.
If you throw out all those you are left with 12 of the 42 studies. They have an average IQ of 81. Very close to the 82 expected from school achievement.
That is where the Netherlands was in the 1950s if you take into account the rising IQs of the Flynn Effect – which seems to have run its course in the West but not in Africa.
Huge thanks to the Cynic for pointing me towards the scientific paper this post is mostly based on (see below for the link).
See also:
- Wicherts, J. M., et al., A systematic literature review of the average IQ of sub-Saharan Africans,
Intelligence (2009), doi:10.1016/j.intell.2009.05.002 – the paper that this post is mostly based on
- Steve Sailer
- Pioneer Fund – which has helped to pay for Lynn's work
- Anti-black racism as a guide to science